During practice last weekend, Falcons rookie defensive lineman Ra'Shede Hageman got into a physical altercation with center Joe Hawley, and the team's second-round pick left practice immediately afterward. Later, it was reported that Hageman had suffered a hairline fracture of his wrist, an injury that could keep him out as long as four weeks.
Good news for the Falcons, because it turns out that X-rays showed Hageman's wrist was not broken after all.
Hageman was cleared for practice Monday after he was diagnosed with a bone bruise.
"I think we're all talking about competing and fighting for jobs, but we're not talking about fighting each other," Falcons coach Mike Smith said Sunday. "We've got to understand that. It's not what we're about. We're about competing and going out and trying to win a job. But we're not about fighting one another. That's something that happens when it gets hot. Today, it was hot, or hotter than what we've been used to practicing. But we've got to definitely get that fixed."
As for offensive lineman Terren Jones, who had to be carted off the field during practice last Sunday and who was taken to the hospital by ambulance, Smith said Jones suffered a concussion. Jones was released from the hospital on Sunday, and he's currently in the NFL's concussion protocol.
“He was taken off the field, but he was returned to the facility early evening and is resting today,” Smith said Monday, via the AJC. “I thought that our medical people did a wonderful job in terms of the situation yesterday with getting him off the field and to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center. He returned within a couple of hours and was back in here last night.”
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